Time to insert myself into this narrative (after all I just saw
Adaptation, and loved it). Like a few others on this list, I also have a
background in art history with a BA and MA from York University in
Toronto. I have a PhD in Sociology in Education from OISE (UofToronto)
where I teach part-time, courses on war and cinema and pop culture, and I
teach part-time at York as well. My research focusses on issues of ethics
and representation of state-sanctioned killing (both war and capital
punishment); gender, nation and sovereignty. Though I'm not a philosopher
I draw a great deal upon Levinas and Agamben, and have only just started
delving into Deleuze. In fact I'm heading to London this evening to
present a paper on Makhmalbaf's Kandahar and the politics of the
face/image/nation at an international studies conf at the LSE next week.
(While there I'll be on a mission to track down a copy of George Franju's
Thomas the Imposter, so if there are any Londoners amongst you who can
point me in the right direction, please do!)
As for lists, I see their value and their limits. Topping my list of 'best
of all time' is Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion. And yes, I did love Thin Red
Line but haven't had time to read Critchley's ditty yet. Best
(commercially released) film of 2002, I would say, is Far From Heaven, and
a strong contender is Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner). Best film to watch for
in 2003 is Elia Sulieman's Divine Intervention, which I saw at the Toronto
film fest (which tied for first place with Bowling for Columbine in my own
top ten list of the fest - I saw 46 films). Favourite directors of mine,
pretty much the same as other folks on the list, but no one has mentioned
Preston Sturges (tsk tsk!) And does anyone know what happened to the
Argentinian director, Eliseo Subiela (Man Facing Southeast)?? Each film he
puts out is even better than the last, but the last I saw was Don't Die
Without Telling Me Where You're Going, in 1995.
I'm also a huge fan of Iranian cinema (long before it became 'fashionable'
amongst the masses), and my best cinematic experience of all time would
have to be hearing Kiarostami doing Q&A's when he was here in TO for a
retrospective at Cinematheque Ontario in May (one of the great advantages
of living in Toronto!). That being said, I'm quite aware of the concerns
voiced by Dorna and would like to fill out the survey, alas it will have
to wait til I get back from the UK. But one director who's much ignored in
the West, precisely because he *doesn't* make films about children and
poor people, is Dariush Mehrjui, but for some reason his work keeps
popping up in Toronto.
So that's a brief introduction to me. Oh, and, I would have to say that a
single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is better 'cinema', than just
about anything put out of Hollywood (barring the 1940s and 1970s)!
cheers
Patricia Molloy
|